Wearing orange ribbons, the girls of the St Martin Secondary School, St Martin Primary School and the Convent High School on Monday, joined forces to say no to violence against women and girls.
The students participated in a special assembly on the grounds of the St Martin Secondary School to commemorate Orange Day.
The color orange is used to represent violence against women and girls.
Principal of the School, Andra Christian reminded the girls that the orange ribbons which they were wearing was not for fashion purposes but to send a powerful message.
“The ribbons that you are wearing today are not just for style but to send a powerful message. The message is I will not allow myself to be violated and I will not stand by and let it happen to any other person. Today then is a continuation of an ongoing effort to get persons to realize that you mean business.”
Miss Dominica 2013 Lesslassa Armour Shillingford encouraged the girls to always fight for their rights.
“In 2013 our Dominican women and our girls are faced with poverty, abuse, ignorance, sickness and many other forms of discrimination. The country’s poverty assessment states that literacy rate for women is still lower than that of men. Women suffer from chronic lifestyle diseases which shows you that you need to take better care of your health. Your body is your sacred place and you need to treat it properly,” she advised.
Armour-Shillingford pointed out that women and girls have a much higher risk of getting abused and abusers who get fined only pay a fee of EC$250.
“Is that all we are worth? We need to start saying that is not what we are worth and stand up for our rights. Our law states that the consent age is 16 but the World Health Organization shows that 42% of Caribbean children who are sexually active have their first sexual intercourse before the age of 10. We have teen mothers and girls exposing themselves.The society asked for the age of consent to be raised hoping that this will protect our children but will it? Will our young girls realize the harm? Or will you continue to throw yourselves at unhappy men who are unaware of the tender age girls they hold. ”
Ms Wob Dwiyet 2013 Tasia Floisac also addressed the students, admonishing them to never be afraid to speak out against violence.
“Reach out to someone for help, report the abuse, do your part and break the silence. Violence can bring about destruction in all major societal structures. It can destroy the family which in turn, affects children at school. We need to protect our women and girls from being violated and when violence takes place, we need to ensure that proper facilities are put in place such as shelters, counseling, legal aid and health services. You have the right to be respected,” she declared.
The event was organized by Dominica’s CARICOM Youth Ambassadors.
I just wish negative people would be silent for awhile. do some reading, or some research.
what’s the matter with world has the world gone mad, ” there nothing wrong with the world is just the people that’s in it”.
Lord have mercy on us.
Good message. But where do violence comes from, and why a violent society? Violence destroys the well-being of everyone. This is a message for everyone, boys as well as girls. Not too long ago this same paper issued an article about boys being abused. l trust that it was taken seriously. However, the talk for many years have been focused at girls and women. Frankly, we must always and l mean always try to lookout for everyone boys as well as girls, ladies as well as men. Violence is in our country in many forms and yes, violence is amongst us and we should do everything to prevent and report it. Lets hope that we can assemble talk to our boys about this, and to our adults, lets debate on how we can reach our children without a leather belt, a stick or cussing words but reaching to the level of normalcy or to put it bluntly, sensibility.
Good job ladies, I dont think its about arguing with each other but is about righting the wrongs that women go through, education is what will fix violence against women educating the abuser and the abused,dont tell an abused woman remain with her husband and pray because God hates divorce, its wrong to be abused in whatever form, and if I had my way I would definietley tell women reject violence they are worth more than, the good Lord hates to see his children suffer. they think. part and stop casting blind eyes
There is punishment and abuse. Some parents do make bad decisions, and pass their rage on their children. I know a preacher who, unless his children cries, he will not stop beating them. I believe in a little spanking, but not too much. Sometimes they don’t even explain the whole reason for the physical punishment.
Some children need more spanking than others, but when do we know the spanking is working. Sometimes parenting is not easy, so we parents have to get constrictive people to help us in raising our children. I know it takes a village to raise a child. Human being are naturally rebellious, but if there is positive intervention,
things works a little smoothly.
Parents, most of us are not examples to our children. Children hear and learn what they hear and see.
How u beat??? Is there a proper way of brutalizing someone with a leather belt or a whip or a chord………….there is a proper way to administer such agonizing cruelty…….help them lord
I never did anything to deserve the cruelty done to me by my paerents………and so what if I did wrong……..how can blows change a person……a child will simply try not to get caught the next time….i was so afraid of the severe beatings I recueved and u know what it did not stop me from doing what ever minor thing I was beaten for over and over again……blows never taught me anything……..blows is simply making mentally ill people feel powerful because they have the authority to hurt and instill fear…………no one that I know who recieved blows no matter how severe…..never cease doing the things they were beaten for……they just tried their best not to get …….wickec cruel, brutalizers
Celebrating this day, that day, everyday we celebrate some day.
Geez! How many days do we observe in Dominica and do nothing about it?
they look so beautiful and intelligent i feel so prod as a young woman seeing the students making ppl aware of the changes women face in life…………GUD JOB LADIES
so you mean to tell me…. you cannot come up with any other means of punishment than brutalizing your children?????????? this is the only method of punishment you know of….torture????????
then again u understand… I could not go anywhere …I was kept in a prison by my parents…my life was like a punishment so what else could they do…there was not freedom or privileges from me…. wicked wicked wicked evil brutalizers
is there a proper way of hitting a child with a leather belt or a whip or an electric cord…. well I use a belt ever so gently and hit myself with it on the leg and my entire body ache… this is torture…what can a child possibly do to deserve such torturous inhumane treatment????????……..wicked set of people…..stop abusing and brutalizing kids and calling it discipline
well there are laws in the US to protect kids…whenever a health care workers..including doctors nurses nursing assistance know of an abuse and do not report it…they could loose their job and I think legal action could be taken against them also…. I also think counselors and teachers are included……
why do you think you hear of teachers reporting that kids innocently told them…not knowing that they would get their parents in trouble…like the kid who told her teacher that she got burnt when her mother took her to a tanning bed…….the teacher had to report it she had no choice…cause if it is found out later that the teacher knew about and did nothing she would be fired…
thiny let’s take a look at the American society most of the children have NO respect for their parents or any other adults for that matter. It is not “beating” of the child that is wrong it is how the parents go about doing it. Spare the rod spoil the child
I don’t want to hear nothing from you hypocrites until you push to pass laws which make beating children with leather belts and cords ect…. illegal
u sound like a real idiot. We are not in the US is not what u beat with is how u beat.
I correct my children with a belt but I do so in the proper way without abusing them.
Am I in America that I cannot punish my child. You must be out of yr mind.
then I guess you have no problem with a man beating his wife when she displeases him…because adult do wrong also….so if a defenseless child can be beaten with belts women who are adult and can seek out help for themselves should also be beaten….
when a women overspend limited finances in he home…go ahead and give her blows with those belts and whips…..when a man do the same go ahead and give him blows…..when a man cheats blows like old clothes….when adults loose their temper and make bad decisions…the spouse should handle the situation every time with a belt or a cord……
when you disrespect your spouse in public……..
no child deserves to be beaten you wicked huypocrites
No doubt who the real idiot is! I am speechless about the fact that there is people out there discussing how to use a belt,… I have 4 brothers and 1 sister and none of us ever had to experience that kind of punishment. Beaten& abused children will turn into abusers and brutal grown ups. The cat is biting it`s tail! Next time I come to Dominica I`ll be wearing ORANGE from top till toe!
Heal the world- make it a better place….
Well the belt made me a better person today so I will do the same to my children if is that I have to do to keep them on the right path. By the way read your bible and comprehend what it says about spearing the rod. be smart if you have children or planning to do so some day.
again….mothers ..stop brutaluiziing your daughters with punches and belts and whip…especially fathers when you hit your girls with leather belts and cords, when you scream after them and cause them to fear you…you are the first man in their life who are violent towards them…..you reap you sew………the consequences of your actions in manifested in your kids behavior………and boys when you are violent to your boys…what do you expect????? do you not expect them to be violent to women????
AMEN!
Sorry, meant to say, well taken.
The topic could have said children to include boys as well because boys are equally violated and abused as girls.
Just my thought on this matter but it is wall taken.
Great job ladies,you all are so beautiful,no man has the right to abuse any of you.